What Are the Degrees of NY Penal Law 220 Criminal Possession of Controlled Substance

When it comes to the letter of the law in the state of New York’s penal code, we’ll be the first to admit that things can be a little complicated, if not downright confusing. But while it can be tricky to navigate what exactly the law means, it doesn’t always have to be this way. In fact, in our ongoing series of posts, we’ve taken apart the law and broken it down into digestible chunks so that even the layman can not only understand the law but also figure out how to use it in their favor in a legal action. We’ve covered subjects like burglary, assault, even things like identity theft and cyber crimes. Today, however, we’re going to take a look at a couple of charges under the law of criminal possession of a controlled substance. In our previous post we covered the definitions involved, so we’re going to jump right into it with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree. Let’s begin.

Criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree.

To be guilty of this crime, you’ll have to have knowingly and also unlawfully possessed some kind of controlled substance. It’s important to note, though, that it isn’t a violation when you possess a residual amount of the substance in like a syringe or something similar, and possess it because of a syringe exchange, or something like that. It’s also not a violation of this section if the possession is as a result of seeking immediate health care because you’re going through an overdose or something like that. Criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree is a class A misdemeanor.

Criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree.

To be guilty of this particular crime, you have to both knowingly and unlawfully possess either a controlled substance with the intention of selling it, or multiple preparations, mixtures, compounds, or other kinds of substances that contain a narcotic preparation and those preparations or any other type of thing weigh a total of a half ounce or more, or phencyclidine that weighs fifty milligrams or more, or multiple preparations, mixtures, compounds, or other kinds of substances that contain concentrated cannabis and those preparations or any other type of thing weigh a total of a fourth of an ounce or more, or cocaine that weighs a total of five hundred milligrams or more, or ketamine that weighs more than a thousand milligrams, or ketamine when you’ve previously been convicted of possession of ketamine in any amount, or multiple preparations, mixtures, compounds, or other kinds of substances that contain GHB, and those preparations or any other type of thing weigh a total of twenty-eight grams or more. Criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree is considered to be a class D felony.

As you can see, everything becomes much easier to understand once you break it down into its composite parts and skip the boring legalese to get at the essence of the law as opposed to just the letter of it. We started this look into criminal possession of a controlled substance by outlining the definitions involved, and then followed it up by showing you what actually goes into a conviction for one of these crimes. Now while we’ve covered two of the crimes under this law, there are still more to come that we’re going to cover in future posts. With that said, we encourage you to stick with us as we outline the various charges that there are for criminal possession of a controlled substance, and if you’re interested in other types of charges, you can then go on to check out some of the articles we did for other charges in the state of New York’s penal law as well. Just because you’re facing legal trouble doesn’t mean you have to suffer from the consequences of the law. In fact, if you have the right counsel you can actually get your charges reduced or even dismissed entirely. But the key here, as we mentioned, is getting the right counsel. And you can find the right counsel at Joseph Potashnik and Associates, PC. So get in touch with us today for any of your legal needs. We’ll take care of you.

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